Schmap Napa Valley Neighborhood Guide

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Napa Valley - Neighborhood Guide
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Napa Valley Home
Schmap Napa Valley guide and map

Napa Valley ranks among the premier wine growing regions of the world. An estimated five million tourists pass through each year, visiting wineries, dining at designer restaurants, and trying to get a taste of Napa's refined and moneyed lifestyle.

Even if you're a teetotaler, however, Napa Valley can be a real delight, and for some of the very reasons grapes like it so much: it's sunny without being hot or arid, and the gentle valley landscape makes a perfect tableau for a summer afternoon. There's no better place for a picnic, a long bike ride, or a hot air balloon ride. It's easy to see why so much wealth has migrated to the area.

Napa

The city of Napa is largest in the county, yet it's possibly the community least connected to the refined, vinicultural image the world has of the Napa Valley. While there are quite a few mansions and large estates back against the hill, Napa tends to be a down-to-earth, blue-collar city. It's a city of average Joes in pickups, and hardworking Mexican immigrants living in bungalow homes on Tejas and Trabajo streets. That said, however, the Carneros area on Napa's south side is prized by aficionados for its pinot noirs and chardonnays. Artesa is a noted Carneros winemaker.

Napa is the area's mercantile center. While its town center, filled with stolid, granite banks and three-floor office buildings, is rekindling a downtown renaissance interrupted by the 2000 earthquake (whose epicenter was nearby), most of the retail traffic flows through the Napa Outlet Stores on Highway 29. Wide, strip-like streets such as Soscol, Trancas, and Lincoln fill the county's less glamorous needs, like automotive service and air-conditioning.

Yountville

Farther up Highway 29, Yountville hews far closer to the popular, Falconcrest image of Napa Valley. Less populous and more gentrified than the city of Napa, there are also a lot of grapes growing here. (You may see the vineyards first, strangely enough, as a bright, metallic twinkling: growers use reflective foil to scare away grape-eating birds.) What's really put Yountville on the map, though, are its restaurants. Bistro Jeanty, Bouchon, Brix Restaurant, Domaine Chandon, The French Laundry, and Mustard's Grill are some of the more noteworthy. Nationally famed, these establishments are happily embraced by San Francisco as an integral part of the San Francisco Bay Area restaurant culture, but clearly, they stand on their own. (And standing is indeed what you will do if you don't make a reservation several weeks in advance.)

Oakville

By this point, one has entered the real heart of Napa Valley wine production. Robert Mondavi, one of the titans of California wine, is headquartered in Oakville. Other, smaller wineries can be seen on both sides of the valley, though the premium cellars seem to be on the west side. While tiny Oakville has a post office, it's really an unincorporated part of Napa County, best known for the Oakville Grocery, a legendary roadside delicatessen stocked with a mind-boggling array of gourmet delights from France, Italy, and their own kitchens. As with other spots throughout the valley, one is likely to be greeted in early spring by a waving sea of yellow under sparse vineyards: growers often plant mustard underneath grapevines.

Rutherford

Microscopic Rutherford, population 525, is home to Beaulieu (BV) Winery, Rutherford Grove, Rutherford Hill, St. Supery Vineyards & Winery, Mumm Napa Valley (of champagne fame) and Francis Ford Coppola's Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery, which features memorabilia from his directorial career, including the Tucker automobile from the film of the same name. It's also a fine place to eat: Auberge de Soleil, La Toque, and the Rutherford Grill stand with the best of Yountville's superb French restaurants.

St. Helena

Worth a stop independent of wine, St. Helena is a town that strives to look as it did 90 years ago. To a commendable extent, it succeeds. The vintage facades on Highway 29, St. Helena's main street, are striking. St. Helena features surprisingly upscale shopping. For instance, you'll roll into town past a satellite of exclusive San Francisco clothier Wilkes Bashford. The Silverado Museum here hosts an exhibit of Robert Louis Stevenson ephemera. Fans of ghost story writer and misanthrope Ambrose Bierce will want to see the display and perhaps even stay at the Ambrose Bierce House, now a bed and breakfast. St. Helena is also home to the Berenger winery, a popular tasting destination; and the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. The CIA, as it's called (accurately if confusingly), is a master's level training center for working, certified chefs. It's situated in the former home of the Christian Brothers winery, an imposing three-story 101-year-old building that housed generations of winemaking friars. Take a look at some of the history exhibits inside, and don't miss Brother Timothy's 1800-piece corkscrew collection.

The CIA gives cooking demonstrations in their fully equipped teaching theater. The demonstrations are F-M at 1:30p and 3:30p for $12.50 per person and include a sample of what the chef has prepared at the end of the demonstration.

Calistoga

Calistoga is famous for its...mud. Mud baths, along with mineral baths, saunas, hot steam treatments, whirlpools, and herbal body wraps, have all been an attraction of the area ever since San Francisco entrepreneur Sam Brannan first promoted the benefits of the area's hot springs in the mid-19th century. Dr. Wilkinson's Hot Springs Resort, Nance's Hot Springs, and the Lavender Hill Spa are good spots to get hot and muddy.

To get a feeling for the thermal springs without getting in one, go two miles out of town on Tubbs Lane and catch Old Faithful geyser. It spouts boiling water 60 feet into the air every half-hour or so.

Calistoga is an engaging little town, bustling, health-conscious, and a bit less precious than St. Helena. Cafe Sarafornia, the Calistoga Inn, and Checkers Pizza are all great places to replenish yourself after the ardors of a rub, steam, or scalding soak. The Petrified Forest, just outside of town on Petrified Forest Road, features six million-year-old trees turned, by a volcano, into rock. Some of the specimens are more than 100 feet tall.

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Calistoga

Napa Valley
United States

Calistoga is famous for its. . .mud. Mud baths, along with mineral baths, saunas, hot steam treatments, whirlpools, and herbal body wraps, have all been an attraction of the area ever since San Francisco entrepreneur Sam Brannan first promoted the benefits of the area's hot springs in the mid-19th century. To get a feeling for the thermal springs without getting in one catch Old Faithful geyser. It spouts boiling water 60 feet into the air every half-hour or so.

Review © 2007, Wcities

Photo: nmlind

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Oakville

Napa Valley
United States
By this point, one has entered the real heart of Napa Valley wine production. Robert Mondavi, one of the titans of California wine, is headquartered in Oakville. Other, smaller wineries can be seen on both sides of the valley, though the premium cellars seem to be on the west side. While tiny Oakville has a post office, it's really an unincorporated part of Napa County, best known for the Oakville Grocery, a legendary roadside delicatessen stocked with a mind-boggling array of gourmet delights from France, Italy, and their own kitchens. As with other spots throughout the valley, one is likely to be greeted in early spring by a waving sea of yellow under sparse vineyards: growers often plant mustard underneath grapevines.

Review © 2007, Wcities

Photo: Chris & Annette (r3v & mali)
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Rutherford

Napa Valley
United States
Microscopic Rutherford, population 525, is home to Beaulieu (BV) Winery, Rutherford Grove, Rutherford Hill, St. Supery Vineyards & Winery, Mumm Napa Valley (of champagne fame) and Francis Ford Coppola's Niebaum-Coppola Estate Winery, which features memorabilia from his directorial career, including the Tucker automobile from the film of the same name. It's also a fine place to eat: Auberge de Soleil, La Toque, and the Rutherford Grill stand with the best of Yountville's superb French restaurants.

Review © 2007, Wcities

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Yountville and St. Helena

Napa Valley
United States
Yountville hews far closer to the popular image of Napa Valley. Less populous and more gentrified than the city of Napa, there are also a lot of grapes growing here. What's really put Yountville on the map, though, are its restaurants. Bistro Jeanty, Bouchon, Brix Restaurant, Domaine Chandon, The French Laundry, and Mustard's Grill are some of the more noteworthy. Nationally famed, these establishments are happily embraced by San Francisco, but, clearly, they stand on their own.

Worth a stop independent of wine, St. Helena strives to look as it did 90 years ago. The vintage facades on Highway 29, St. Helena's main street, are striking. The Silverado Museum here hosts an exhibit of Robert Louis Stevenson ephemera. St. Helena is also home to the Berenger winery, a popular tasting destination, and the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone.

Review © 2007, Wcities

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